PIAA Plays of the Week – Championships

By: HSSN Staff
Tuesday, December 22, 2015 | 3:39 PM

After nearly four months of incredible action, the high school football season in Pennsylvania finally came to an end over the weekend in Hershey. While Aliquippa came up short in the title game after a tremendous season, the Central Catholic Vikings brought gold back to the WPIAL, as they captured the Quad-A PIAA Championship against the Parkland Trojans. Here are the plays that helped catapult Central Catholic to its fourth PIAA title.

1. Central Catholic 21, Parkland 18

On a team brimming with Division I talent, JJ Younger was an overlooked member of the Vikings for most of the season. Younger had been playing a key role in Central Catholic secondary for weeks, but he only found a spot offensively last week after an injury to reserve running back Vinny Emanuele. On the biggest stage, Younger enjoyed his finest performance, including a 54-yard touchdown that pushed the Central Catholic lead to 21-0 late in the third quarter. The touchdown would prove to be the final points for the Vikings, and the game-winning score.

MSA Sports’ Sean Meyers and Rob Longo have the call of the defining play of the championship:

While Younger provided ample offense, the defense of the Vikings, which has been the strength all season long, needed to dig deep to preserve the victory. After surrendering 18 points in the final stanza, the Vikings’ defense had to come up with a stop on the final play of the game, with the Trojans at midfield. Star linebacker David Adams put an exclamation point on that stop, as he pulled in an interception to give Central Catholic the win.

While Younger and the defense received most of the press in the win, it was Ronnie Jones who was sure and steady, and provided all of the scoring for Central Catholic in the first half. Jones scored twice, including the first points of the game on a terrific 6-yard run early in the second quarter.

Jones found paydirt later in the second stanza, as well, again on a 6-yard scamper. The Vikings would have never been in that position, though, if not for Younger’s miraculous run that kept the drive alive for Central Catholic. Facing a third-and-16 scenario, the diminutive back raced nearly the length of the field to set up the games’ second score.